Wall Street Journal - US Now Supplying Iraqis With M16s

If they have their logistics worked out and can track the rifles to the person it was issued to, it might have some good side effects.
 
It's all about money. As usual the greed of our corporations is pushing our govt to make bad decisions. Unless people think we would be better off if our enemies have m16 rather than ak47.
 
Seems like a good idea. And, logistacaly it may help keep them dependent on us. OTOH, I think the AK is a better weapon for the type of combat going on over there.
 
When Iraqi soldier Abbas Ali Eadan picked up his brand new, U.S.-made M-16 rifle in August at this sprawling base north of Baghdad, his pride was palpable.

"I can put a cigarette in an ashtray and hit it with my M-16 from far away, like a sniper," boasted the 39-year-old. "The terrorists may have rockets and grenades, but only the Iraqi army has M-16s."
Click to expand...

Evidently the Iraqi commanders and soldiers like how the M-16 is much more accurate than an AK-47. One guy isn't a representative sample, but I think many Iraqi army soldiers have seen how effective US soldiers are with the M-16 and want to use the weapon too.

I doubt that it's just about money and corporate dominance of the world. :rolleyes:
 
The son of a friend of mine is a Marine who is in Iraq. He is involved in training Iraqi soldiers how to shoot. According to him, most of the Iraqi soldiers do not think aiming is important. They believe they will hit the target if it is Allah's will, and therefore aiming is unimportant.
 
I guess your friend's son could resort to telling the Iraqis that it is Allah's will that they aim their rifles if he really wanted to teach them to shoot. It may be more monkey see monkey do like I (sorta) said earlier. If you read the article in the WSJ they mention that Iraqis with M-16s are more likely to mimic the firing positions that US soldiers use instead of just spraying and praying like they do with the AK.
 
I agree this is not a good idea. In all reality many of those rifles will be used against our soldiers by the insurgents who have connections within the Iraq military. All we are doing is supplying the enemy with better weapons. We might as well have the Army drive trucks through major Iraq cities and have the soldiers just toss M16s with ammo onto the streets since this will be the same outcome.
 
The logistics support, maintenance requirements, and manual of arms are so different for the M16 as compared to the AK-47 that I doubt terrorists would switch to it en masse. If the switch will be such an enormous undertaking for the Iraqi army under US training and support, imagine what a similar switch would be for the less-organized terrorists without that same training and support.
 
In the full article it alluded to the Iraqi's lack of discipline. They'd hit plenty more stuff with AKs if they bothered to aim.


Colt must have good friends in congress.
 
In the full article it alluded to the Iraqi's lack of discipline. They'd hit plenty more stuff with AKs if they bothered to aim.


Colt must have good friends in congress.
Click to expand...
+1. The M16 requires a whole different mindset. It requires discipline not only in its use, but also in its maintenance and support. I think the average Iraqi soldiers see our guys being successful with it, but they don't see that our success is based on discipline and attention to detail. Our success is more than just a different rifle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top